PICTORIAL  HISTORY  OF  THE 
OXFORD  ORPHANAGE 

Oxford,  N.  C. 


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Orphana 


Oxford,  llorth  Carolina 


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PICTORIAL  HISTORY 

of 

The  Oxford  Orphanage 

Founded  in  1872  by  Qrand  Lodge  of  North  Carolina 

A.  F.  &  A.  M. 


N 


This  attractiue  book  mas  printed  by  the  boys  in 
the  printing  department  of  Oxford  Orphanage 


1922 


73^7^7 


Preface 


E  HAVE  long  felt  the  need  of 
some  means  of  conveying  to  our 
friends  a  better  idea  of  our  work 
than  we  have  yet  adopted.  This 
booklet  is  gotten  up  with  the  hope  that  it 
may  give  to  those  who  see  it  a  better  con¬ 
ception  of  the  great  work  we  are  trying  to 
do  for  the  orphan  children  under  our  care. 

It  illustrates  the  provision  which  is  be¬ 
ing  made  for  their  physical  development, 
as  well  as  their  pleasure.  Also  the  manual 
training,  whereby  our  children  are  able  to 
learn  a  trade  while  they  are  getting  an  edu¬ 
cation. 


We  have  eleven  grades  in  our  school, 
and  a  child  has  the  opportunity  to  obtain 
preparation  which  will  admit  him  or 
her  into  the  highest  grade  colleges  of  the 
State  without  examination. 

The  Christian  training  we  seek  to  give 
the  children  should  enable  them  to  possess 
a  high  moral  sense  of  their  duty  to  God 
and  man.  The  education  they  receive 
should  be  a  good  foundation  for  them  from 
a  literary  standpoint;  and  the  manual  train¬ 
ing  given  will  enable  them  to  earn  a  living 
with  little  or  no  apprenticeship. 

R.  L.  BROWN, 
Superintendent. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


https://archive.org/details/pictorialhistory03oxfo 


St.  John’s  College 


ST.  JOHN’S  COLLEGE  was  found¬ 
ed  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  North 
Carolina,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  in  1855 
for  the  purpose  of  educating 
the  children  of  Masons.  It  was  not  a  suc¬ 
cess  and  eked  out  an  existence,  changing 
management  several  times,  until  the  war 
between  the  States  came.  Then  the  College 
ceased  to  function  entirely. 

In  December,  1872,  the  question  was 
brought  up  in  the  Grand  Lodge  as  to  what 
disposition  should  be  made  of  the  property. 
There  was  a  motion  to  sell  it  but  Bro.Jno. 
H.  Mills  offered  a  substitute  motion  that 
it  be  turned  into  an  Orphanage.  The  vote 
was  a  tie.  Grand  Master  Jno.  Nichols  cast 
the  deciding  vote  for  the  Orphanage. 

Bro.  Jno.  H.  Mills  was  elected  the  first 
Superintendent  and  an  appropriation  of 
$500  per  year  was  made  for  its  maintenance. 


Thus  came  into  existence  the  first  Orphan¬ 
age  in  North  Carolina,  and  one  of  the  first 
in  the  South. 

Bro.  Mills  assumed  the  duties  of  his  of¬ 
fice  at  once,  and  proceeded  to  solicit  funds 
to  open  the  institution.  His  efforts  were 
sufficiently  successful  for  him  to  open  the 
old  St.  John’s  College  building  as  an  Or¬ 
phanage,  and  on  February  1,  1873,  the  first 
children  were  admitted:  Robert  Lee  Par¬ 
rish,  Nancy  Parrish  and  Isabel  Parrish  of 
Granville  County. 

The  first  year  there  were  admitted  136 
children.  We  can  imagine  the  difficulty 
encountered  by  Mr.  Mills  in  providing  for 
so  many  children  with  a  $500  appropriation 
in  the  hard  times  following  the  Civil  War. 
No  man  with  less  determination  and  abili¬ 
ty  could  have  done  it. 


But  it  seems  that  God’s  blessing  was  up¬ 
on  the  work,  and  while  there  were  many  dis¬ 
couragements  and  the  children  sometimes 
lacked  the  necessities,  God’s  providence 
gradually  opened  the  way  to  the  hearts 
of  the  people,  until  the  Orphanage  was 
well  established  with  ample  income  to  sup¬ 
ply  the  needs  of  the  children. 

The  following  Superintendents  have 
served  the  institution: 

J.  H.  Mills  served  u  years,  B.  F.  Dixon 
served  7  years;  Julian  T.  Harris  (died  in 
office)  served  2  months;  W.  S.  Black  served 
3  years;  N.  M.  Lawrence  served  4  years;  W. 
J.  Hicks  (died  in  office)  served  12  years; 
R.  L.  Brown  elected  1910 — after  having 
served  as  Assistant  Superintendent  for  18 
months. 

At  the  present  time,  1922,  the  Orphan¬ 
age  is  caring  for  375  to  380  children  with 
only  25  per  cent  of  them  children  of  Ma¬ 
sons.  About  3700  children  have  received 
the  benefits  of  its  care  and  training  from 


the  day  the  first  child  was  admitted  to  the 
present.  Some  of  these  children  have  won 
for  themselves  very  enviable  positions  in 
the  ministry,  professional  life  and  busi¬ 
ness. 

The  present  Board  of  Directors  is  com¬ 
posed  of  the  following:  J.  H.  Webb,  Grand 
Master,  ex  officio,  Chairman;  B.  S.  Royster,, 
P.  G.  M.,  Secretary;  T.  A.  Green;  J.  Bailey 
Owen,  P.  G.  M.;  Dred  Peacock;  E.  F.  Lov- 
ill;  R.  L.  Flowers;  A.  B.  Andrews,  P. 

G.  M.;  and  Geo.  S.  Norfleet,  P.  G.  M. 

The  Executive  Committee  consists  of  J. 

H.  Webb,  J.  Bailey  Owen  and  B.  S.  Roy¬ 
ster.  Officers:  Superintendent,  R.  L. 
Brown;  Lady  Supervisor,  Miss  N.  N.  Bemis; 
Treasurer  and  Bookkeeper,  Mr.  Ivey  Al¬ 
len;  Assistant,  Miss  N.  P.  Bessent. 

The  faculty  consists  of  4  officers,  12 
teachers,  2  Physical  Directors,  one  for  boys 
and  one  for  girls;  10  Cottage  Mothers;  6 
Matrons,  and  7  Heads  of  Industrial  Depart¬ 
ments,  beside  a  Physician  and  a  Dentist. 


The  plant  consists  of  the  following: 
tract  of  land  with  242  acres  just  on  the 
edge  of  the  town  of  Oxford;  the  Main 
Building  (St.  John’s  College);  four  cot¬ 
tages  for  girls  and  one  Baby  Cottage;  four 
cottages  for  boys;  dining  hall;  one  office 
building;  Superintendent’s  residence; 
Treasurer’s  residence;  three  industrial 
buildings  which  contain  the  Laundry  and 
Sewing  Room,  the  Printing  Office  and  Shoe 
Shop,  and  the  Wood-working  Shop;  Hos¬ 
pital  building;  two  homes  for  department 
managers;  splendidly  equipped  sanitary 
Dairy  barn  with  two  glazed  tile  silos  with 
225  tons’  capacity;  three  barns,  two  cribs 


and  several  large  storage  houses  as  well 
as  hog  houses.  All  of  these  are  of  brick 
construction  except  farmers’  houses  and 
barns. 

This  home  is  for  the  dependent  orphan 
children  of  the  State  and  only  such  can 
gain  admission.  Money  will  not  buy  its 
privileges  or  pay  for  its  benefits.  Here  the 
children  of  the  poor  have  all  the  advanta¬ 
ges  the  rich  can  give  their  children. 

They  are  cared  for  with  the  tenderest 
affection  by  the  consecrated  officers  and 
teachers  who  do  not  work  for  the  money 
they  get,  but  are  willing  to  spend  their 
lives  for  the  children,  if  need  be. 


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CAMPUS,  OXFORD  ORPHANAGE,  OXFORD,  NORTH  CAROLINA 


MAIN  BUILDING,  MASONIC  ORPHAN  ASYLUM,  THE  ORIGINAL  ST.  JOHN’S  COLLEGE  BUILDING 


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GRAND  LODGE  HALL  UPSTAIRS,  DINING  HALL  FIRST  FLOOR— SOME  OF  THE  380  CHILDREN 


OFFICE  BUILDING 


BABY  COTTAGE  FRONT 


CHILDREN  FROM  BABY  COTTAGE  ON  THEIR  PLAYGROUND 


PLAY  ROOM,  BABY  COTTAGE 


BABY  COTTAGE— KINDERGARTEN  ROOM 


GIRL’S  COTTAGE— EIGHT  COTTAGES  IN  ALL,  FOUR  FOR  GIRLS  AND  FOUR  FOR  BOYS 


FIRST  GRADE 


ELEVENTH  GRADE 


SHRINE  SWIMMING  POOL  (A  present  from  Oasis  and  Sudan  Temples) 


SHRINE  SWIMMING  POOL,  100  FEET  LONG,  25  FEET  WIDE 


BASKET  BALL — GIRLS 


BASKET  BALL— BOYS 


VOLLEY  BALL 


BASEBALL 


COMPANY  AT  DRILL 


Industrial  Training 


E  BELIEVE  it  is  as  important  to 
teach  children  how  to  work  as 
it  is  to  give  them  an  education. 
It  has  therefore  been,  and  still  is, 
the  policy  of  the  Oxford  Orphanage,  to 
have  all  the  children  learn  to  do  something 
that  will  enable  them  to  make  a  living 
when  they  go  out  in  the  world. 

The  pictures  immediately  following  are 
intended  to  give  an  idea  of  the  various 
means  we  employ  to  accomplish  this  ob¬ 
ject. 

In  further  explanation,  however,  we  will 
state  that  all  the  children,  boys  and  girls, 
are  taught  to  clean  house.  They  all  keep 
their  own  homes. 

The  girls  have  a  class  in  Domestic 
Science,  so  that  all  may  know  how  to  cook 
when  they  leave  us.  Since  it  is  practicable 


to  have  only  a  few  work  at  a  time  in  our 
cook  room,  and  they  only  remain  there  one 
year,  we  use  this  class  in  Domestic  Science 
so  all  the  girls  may  know  how  to  cook  when 
they  go  out  from  us. 

The  class  in  Manual  Arts  and  Basketry 
enables  the  boys  and  girls  to  learn  the  art 
of  basket  work,  wood-turning  and  carving, 
toy-making,  and  making  useful  things  of 
cement,  as  well  as  other  serviceable  and 
ornamental  articles. 

The  class  in  Telegraphy  and  Typewrit¬ 
ing  gives  the  children  an  opportunity  to 
become  skilled  operators. 

The  Laundry  and  the  Sewing  rooms  give 
the  girls  training  which  fits  them  to  make 
their  own  clothes  and  keep  them  in  prope^ 
condition. 

The  Printing  Office,  the  Wood-working 


Shop  and  the  Shoe  Shop  afford  the  boys 
opportunity  to  learn  a  lucrative  and  useful 
occupation. 

The  Farm  and  Dairy  are  not  only  very 


necessary  parts  of  our  plant,  but  we  make 
them  serve  the  purpose  of  developing 
the  boys  into  a  class  of  citizens  who  are 
the  back-bone  of  this  great  nation. 


COOK  ROOM 


DINING  ROOMS 


DISH  WASHING  AND  VEGETABLE  ROOM 


STORE  ROOM  NO.  1 


STORE  ROOM  NO.  2 


GIRLS’  SEWING  ROOM— Making  Girls’  Clothes 


BOYS’  SEWING  ROOM— Making  Boys’  Clothes 


LAUNDRY  WASHING  DEPARTMENT 


LAUNDRY  IRONING  DEPARTMENT 


COMPOSING  ROOM,  PRINTING  DEPARTMENT.  Equipped  with  Modern  Machinery  for  All  Kinds  of  Commer¬ 
cial  Job  Printing.  Did  $33,000  worth  in  1922 


TWO  MERGENTHALER  L1NUTYEES 


PRESS  ROOM,  PRINTING  DEPARTMENT.  Here  Is  Printed  The  Orphans’  Friend  and  Masonic  Journal.  Circu¬ 
lation  18,000  Weekly 


SHOES  MADE  IN  OUR  SHOP.  These  are  not  sold,  but  are  for  the  use  of  our  Children  only 


WUUDWUKK1WC  StiUl'. 


Makes  ail  kinds  of  material  for  house-building.  Cuts  up  more  than  200,000  feet  of  lumber 
for  Commercial  purposes  per  year 


CLASS  IN  TELEGRAPHY 


BASKETRY  AND  MANUAL  ARTS 


MANUAL  ARTS  EXHIBIT 


SUPERINTENDENT’S  RESIDENCE 


TREASURER’S  COTTAGE 


TENTH  GRADE  STUDENTS 


The  Farm 


HIS  IS  one  of  the  best  assets  of 
the  Orphanage.  In  the  past  io 
years  it  has  been  brought,  by  a 
systematic  plan  of  land  improve¬ 
ment,  from  one  of  the  poorest  tracts  in 
Granville  County  to  one  of  the  richest,  most 
productive  farms  in  the  State  and  capable 
of  growing  75  to  90  bushels  of  corn  as  well 


as  4  crops  of  Alfalfa  hay  to  the  acre. 

The  tract  consists  of  242  acres.  About 
30  acres  of  these  are  used  for  trucking  and 
most  of  the  vegetables  are  made  here;  150 
acres  are  devoted  to  corn,  ensilage  and  al¬ 
falfa  hay.  The  other  portion  is  used  for 
grazing,  except  some  ten  acres  which  are 
devoted  to  buildings  and  campus. 


DAIRY  HERD.  This  herd  of  Holsteins  gives  an  average  of  3  gallons  of  milk.  About  35  head 


DAIRY  BARN.  Silo  capacity  225  tons 


DAIRY  BARN.  Capacity  50  cows 


Organization  Of  Oxford  Orphanage 

1922 


BOA-RD  OF  DIRECTORS 

James  H.  Webb,  Grand  Master,  Ex-Officio  Chair¬ 


man  _ Hillsboro 

B.  S.  Royster,  Secretary _ Oxford 

J.  Bailey  Owen _  Henderson 

T.  A.  Green _ New  Bern 

*John  W.  Cotten _ Tarboro 

E.  F.  Lovill _ Boone 

Dred  Peacock _ High  Point 

A.  B.  Andrews _ Raleigh 

R.  L.  Flowers _ Durham 

George  S.  Norfleet _ Winston-Salem 

ADVISORY  BOARD 

F.  P.  Hobgood _ Oxford 

Dr.  T.  L.  Booth _ Oxford 

W.  B.  Ballou _ Oxford 


OFFICERS 

R.  L.  Brown _ _ Superintendent 

Miss  N.  N.  Bemis _ Lady  Supervisor 

Miss  Mary  Kennedy _ Asst,  to  Lady  Supervisor 


*Died  October  1,  1922. 


Ivey  Allen - Bookkeeper  and  Treasurer 

Miss  N.  P.  Bessent _ Assistant 

Dr.  N.  C.  Daniel - Physican 

Dr.  R.  F.  Waller _ ; _ Dentist 

TEACHERS 

Miss  N.  N.  Bemis _ ..Principal 

Mrs.  Ivey  Allen,  Miss  Lillian  Sessoms 

Miss  Minerva  Allen  Miss  Stella  Keller 

Miss  Annie  Morton  Miss  Charlotte  Young 

Miss  Verna  Morton  Miss  Zola  Dell 

Miss  Alma  Warner 

Miss  N.  N.  Bemis _ Instructor  Manual  Training 

Miss  Myrtle  Branch,  School  Music  and  Kinder¬ 
garten 

Miss  Bessie  Sasser _ Domestic  Science 

W.  W.  Barnhart _ Science 

Miss  Aldace  Fitzwater  Physical  Director  for  Girls 
Eddie  Rawson _ Physical  Director  for  Boys 


SINGING  CLASS 


Miss  Myrtie  Muse _ Teacher 

L.  W.  Alderman _ Manager 


Miss 

Mrs. 

Miss 

Mrs. 

Mrs. 

Miss 

Mrs. 

Miss 

Mrs. 

Mrs. 

Miss 

Mrs. 

Miss 

Mrs. 

Mrs. 


COTTAGE  MOTHERS 

Maggie  Morton _ Baby  Cottage 

R.  J.  Watson _ Asst,  at  Baby  Cottage 

Annie  Morton _ Boys’  Annex 

Margaret  Raum _ 1st  Girls’  Cottage 

Laura  Moir _ 2nd  Girls'  Cottage 

Vesta  Council _ 3rd  Girls’  Cottage 

Ethel  Jones  Williams _ 4th  Girls’  Cottage 

Rosa  Hammond _ 1st  Boys’  Cottage 

Margaret  Jolly _ 2nd  Boys’  Cottage 

Melissa  Stroud _ 3rd  Boys’  Cottage 

Hattie  Reese _ 4th  Boys’  Cottage 

Belle  Austin _ Hospital 

MATRONS 

Cora  Hogan _ Dietitian 

R.  Z.  Egerton _ Dietitian 

Sarah  Stearns _ Dining  Room 


Miss  Emma  Gray _ Laundry 

Mrs.  H.  J.  Robards _ Girls’  Sewing  Room 

Mrs.  E.  F.  Gill _ Boys’  Sewing  Room 

SHOE  SHOP 

M.  F.  Hill _  Manager 

FARM 

D.  P.  Peake _ General  Farmer 

T.  B.  Weldon _  Trucker 

R.  J.  Watson _ Dairyman 

PRINTING  OFFICE 

N.  C.  Remsen _ Manager 

F.  M.  Pinnix,  Editor  Orphans’  Friend  and  Ma¬ 

sonic  Journal 

WOODWORKING  SHOP 


L.  J.  Steed 


Manager 


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